Nourishing the spirits of women leaders.(Sustaining Our Spirits: Women Leaders Thriving for Today and Tomorrow)(Book review)

Dr. Darlyne Bailey is a recognized leader in higher education. Assistant to the president at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, she was founding dean of its college of education and human development and before that, academic VP and dean of Teachers College at Columbia University NY.

She's shared her vision through speeches, articles and several books. The latest is a personal handbook for women leaders striving to sustain their spirits in some times spirit-numbing environments.

Sustaining Our Spirits: Women Leaders Thriving for Today and Tomorrow (NASW Press 2008) is a collaborative effort by Bailey, Kelly McNally koney, Mary Ellen McNish, Ruthmary Powers and Katrina Uhly. It emerged from years of conversations among themselves and other women leaders.

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Brazilian educator Paulo Freire--once exiled for teaching peasants to read--deeply influenced her understanding of leadership. "Don't worry, Darlyne. A leader does not have to have all of the answers. Rather, a good leader has to make sure that all the right questions are on the table," he told her.

Freire drew her attention to the need for time and space to build the authentic relationships that good leadership requires. Women leaders can be isolated even while constantly bombarded by others.

As the first woman and first African American in many of her leadership positions, Bailey's felt the need for safe times and spaces to reach out and connect. With this in mind, she gathered together nine women in public, faith based, for-profit and not-for-profit leadership across the United States.